The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Dahlia plant, botanically known as Dahlia hybrida and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Melody Allegro’.
The new Dahlia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Lisse, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to create new potted Dahlia cultivars with compact plant habit, freely branching growth habit, early and freely flowering habit, decorative inflorescence form, attractive ray floret coloration, and good postproduction longevity and garden performance.
The new Dahlia originated from a cross pollination made by the Inventor in 2000 of a proprietary selection of Dahlia hybrida identified as code number Vd-0-93, not patent, as the female, or seed, parent with the Dahlia hybrida cultivar Tout à Toi, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Dahlia was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross pollination grown in a controlled environment in Lisse, The Netherlands, during the summer of 2001.
Asexual reproduction of the new Dahlia by cuttings was first conducted in Lisse, The Netherlands during the spring of 2002. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Dahlia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.